A report from Community Impact in Texas. "The market presents a unique challenge to agents, buyers, sellers, title agents and anyone involved in real estate, said Shelby Buehler, an agent with The Buehler Group in Flower Mound and Lewisville. Buehler said their agency is encouraging sellers to lower their asking prices. 'We don’t want sellers to put their house on the market, get zero or below-asking bids, and then have to keep lowering and lowering,' she said. As an example, the saga of a particular house recently on the market in Lewisville opened eyes among Buehler and her colleagues. A home that Buehler described as 'perfect' went on the market earlier this year and had only three bidders for it—a number that would have seemed unfathomable just one year earlier, she said."

"The Buehler Group generally dissuades their clients from putting a home on the market during a holiday weekend, such as Memorial Day. But inevitably, a client or two will make the decision to officially put their 'For Sale' sign out front during that time, Buehler said. 'We didn’t get any interest in a home that went up on Memorial Day, but we didn’t think too much about it,' she said. 'But then the next weekend came and went, and we still didn’t have any interest. That was when we looked at each other and said, ‘Whoa.’"

The American Statesman in Texas. "StoryBuilt, one of Austin’s most active urban developers, said Monday it has agreed to enter a voluntary receivership as it addresses deep financial issues. Earlier this month, the Austin-based firm sent a letter to shareholders announcing a major reorganization, which included the departure of two top leaders and furloughing employees. In the statement on Monday, StoryBuilt said of the receivership: 'The decision, made considering recent market challenges, marks a strategic move towards the company's restructuring.' According to StoryBuilt's website, it previously had a team of more than 250 people. In addition to Austin, the firm has announced projects in Dallas, Seattle and Denver. StoryBuilt was founded in 2001 as PSW Real Estate. The firm specializes in infill projects, building mixed-use developments with apartments, condos, townhomes and single-family homes as well as shops, restaurants and retail space."

The Marin Independent Journal in California. "The median price of a detached home in Marin has dipped to $1.7 million, a year-over-year decline of nearly 10%, according to the latest data from the county assessor's office. The figure was down from $1.8 million in May and the prior peaks of more than $2 million in April and May of 2022. But Patricia Oxman, an agent with of Golden Gate Sotheby's International in Greenbrae, said median prices are just one metric to gauge the state of the market. She said comparing them to a year ago, when the market was in a frenzy, gives a distorted view of conditions now."

"Oxman said 42% of detached homes in Marin are still selling above the asking price, although there might be fewer offers on properties than last year. 'We have to remember, 2022 was nuts,' she said. 'In terms of Marin's mentality and expectations, any planet that was getting 42% of properties over asking would say we're in high grass.'"

From KHON 2. "A mixed-use commercial and residential development on the old Kamehameha Drive-in location in Aiea could be in limbo. A Hawaii developer pulled out of the project and the land owners received a notice of violation from the City as homeless people occupy the space. The residential and commercial project known as Live, Work, Play Aiea seems further away from becoming a reality. Hawaii-based housing developer Stanford Carr was involved in the proposed project but said they gave up the option to purchase the property last June over rising interests and concerns of a possible economic recession. So far, KHON2 News has not been able to reach the owners. Community members like Stephen Wood hope this is not a missed opportunity. Wood said, 'I think it’s in a pretty ideal location, I don’t understand why there isn’t any movement in terms of developing the property.'"

Fox News on Illinois. "Chicago could be hit with a controversial new real estate transfer tax increase on properties above $1 million to build permanent supportive housing units for the homeless. But the proposal could place an additional burden on an already-struggling real estate climate in the Windy City, some realtor groups fear. City officials heard testimonies from housing advocates, city employees and realtor groups during the three-hour meeting. 'Market studies suggest that Chicago’s office buildings have lost 50% of their value, and we estimate that almost half of Chicago’s office buildings are in some state of financial distress,' spokesperson Amy Masters said during the meeting."

From Bankrate. "Have you been looking around the housing market and thinking 'There goes the neighborhood'? Well, you are not alone. In May of this year, ATTOM recorded a sharp uptick in foreclosure rates around the United States. 'The lifting of all COVID-19 related moratoriums that have finally unclogged the pipeline of distressed properties,' said Kristen D. Conti, the co-chairwoman of Default Industry Leaders. 'Those people who chose to take advantage of programs where they could not pay their mortgages and put the payments on the back end of the loan are now faced with homes whose prices are leveling out and they find themselves underwater.'"

"'The escalation of prices put many marginal buyers at the very top of their qualifying range,' Conti said. 'Any change affecting household income can be catastrophic right now as prices become more prevalent and prices decrease.' And there are some telltale signs that more bad news might be on the way. 'I believe foreclosure rates will continue to increase,' Conti said. 'I know the clients I work with are gearing up their loss mitigation departments in preparation for what is next in our market. What many people don’t realize is just because a person has equity in their home, it doesn’t necessarily mean they can make the payment on it.'"

CTV News in Canada. "Windows and doors boarded up, yards unkempt and trash strewn about. What’s surprising is that these housing units are owned and maintained by the Government of Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan NDP took a tour through North Central Regina, aiming to highlight the troubling issue of government housing vacancies. 'This is one of almost 700 units across Regina,' NDP MLA Meara Conway told CTV News. 'The empty Regina housing units don’t just exist here in North Central. They exist across the city.'"

Discover Moose Jaw in Canada. "New Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC) documents received by the Official Opposition through a freedom of information request show that last year in Regina, 691 of the 2,986 available units sat vacant. That represents nearly 1 in 4 of the SHC’s units in Regina. A release by the NDP states that Regina is far from the only centre with high vacancy rates. Other locations include: Estevan with 110 of the 295 units sitting vacant (37% vacant). Meadow Lake with 62 of the 213 units sitting vacant (29% vacant). The Battlefords with 143 of the 629 units sitting vacant (23% vacant). Prince Albert with 159 of the 934 units sitting vacant (17% vacant)."

"'We see hundreds of people waiting months and even years on wait lists to access publicly owned units within their financial reach. We have a tent city in Regina and more across the province while these publicly owned units just sit there collecting dust,' said Conway."

The Independent. "In May this year, residents of Whitstable gathered to discuss a growing crisis – the slow death of their community at the hands of tourists, with the blame laid firmly on the growth of second homes and holiday lets. Locals listed numerous problems caused by a proliferation of short-term rentals in recent years, from poor parking and litter to all-night parties. The seaside town on Kent’s northern coast has also seen a steady decline in year-round inhabitants, which has left the town feeling 'hollowed out,' they said. It’s a familiar story for anyone living in one of the UK’s holiday hotspots. Around the coast, and in popular tourist destinations such as the Cotswolds, the Lake District, and parts of Wales, resentment has been brewing for some time."

"Janet Pearson lives in Newlyn, a working fishing port in West Cornwall that has become increasingly popular with holidaymakers in recent years. One by one, the houses are being sold to investors and let out for a week or two at a time. 'It’s cancerous in the way it’s spreading,' she said. 'When I first moved here 10 years ago, every house on my road was lived in, with several families and quite a few children. It’s sad in the winter. When I pull my curtains at night and look out, the houses opposite are just dead. There’s no light in them at all. It makes me feel very isolated.'"

ABC News in Australia. "The Reserve Bank has left interest rates on hold for consecutive months for the first time since it started raising them in May last year. Writer and part-time teacher Kimberley Starr has yet to feel the full effect of the RBA's rate hikes, but is about to roll off her cheap fixed-rate loan in October. When she does, she estimates her repayments will jump by around $1,000 a month, from 40 to nearly 60 per cent of her take home pay."

"'A few months ago, when I realised what was going to happen, I started putting aside money every pay, just to try to see what it was going to be like,' she told ABC's The Business program. 'So every pay I've just saved as much as I can — it's never gotten to an extra $1,000 a month.' Ms Starr, a single mother who also helps care for her elderly mother, said the cuts she has made and plans to make will not be enough to cover the extra repayments. 'I'm actually really frightened and I don't know what my plan is,' she said. 'I guess we'll just have to buy a lot less food, we won't go out. I'm thinking about getting rid of my health insurance. Or to cut down on things like Netflix and Stan that mounted up during COVID. Once you add all those things together, they still come to only a few hundred dollars a month, and my extra mortgage will be $1,000. It's just unimaginable. I don't know what I'm going to do?'"

The South China Morning Post. "A long-held notion among China's private entrepreneurs was that the best way to offset business losses - or to fund an expansion - was to simply sell off a bit of real estate. To that end, Steve Wang and his elder brother bought up high-end office space and residences in southern China's Guangzhou over the past few years. They saw these properties as not only an investment, but also as sort of a rainy-day fund that could be liquidated if times got tough."

"'Before the pandemic, Chinese companies, especially listed ones, held a lot of properties. They were not only high-value fixed assets that enabled us to get loans for business expansion, but they could also bring more profits than our main business,' said Wang, who made his fortune by investing heavily in large photovoltaic projects across the country. 'Housing prices have fallen back to the level of 2018 and 2019,' he added. 'We will not sell the real estate we have on hand, because we still need them as fixed assets … But we also have no plans to invest in new properties. Profits in our industry are becoming flat … and investing in real estate is even becoming less profitable [and] much more risky.'"

"'China is facing pressure to realise economic growth at 5 per cent,' said Mao Zhenghua, director of the Institute of Economic Research at Renmin University. 'At the same time, it has to bear dual shocks at home and abroad. We need arduous efforts to reverse the downward trend of economic growth over the medium to long term. We are going to face a more complicated economic situation over the long run. We are paying the price for the property bubble, which saw persistent price hikes over the years, and this is the only way for China to reduce its reliance on real estate. I do not think any measures are available to remake it as a pillar of the economy,' Mao said."

"Meanwhile, most analysts expect that regulators will continue to refrain from strong stimulus measures, amid concerns that these could further inflate the property bubble. 'The government does not want to solve today's problems by just creating a bigger bubble to deflate in the future,' said Wei He at Gavekal Dragonomics."